When Lee Bermejo finished the first volume of his Vertigo series Suiciders, he knew there would be a second chapter, but he had to find the right artist to fit the tone of the series. After Bermejo wrote and drew the first volume himself, there were big shoes to fill on the art chores for the second volume.

Bermejo ended up turning to his friend Alessandro Vitti. The Italian artist is best known to American fans for his work on Marvel and DC titles like Secret Warriors and Red Lanterns.

The six-issue second volume of Bermejo's series, titled Suiciders: Kings of HelL.A., continues the story of post-disaster "New Angeles," this time focusing on a generation that has grown up after the "Great Quake," and characters connected with their street gang called Kings of HelL.A.

Following up on our discussion with Bermejo about the new chapter, while showcasing a preview of the volume's second issue, Newsarama talked to Vitti to find out more about his work on Suiciders: Kings of HelL.A..

Credit: Alessandro Vitti (DC/Vertigo)

Newsarama: What did you think of the project when you first heard about it?

Alessandro Vitti: When I received the opportunity to work on this project, I was happy like a child!

Nrama: Did you tweak your style or usual approach at all for this project?

Vitti: I changed my approach. I decided to take time to study again. I decided to take a more realistic approach than before, to be extreme and violent like a punch in the belly.

Nrama: What artistic techniques do you utilize for Suiciders? Is it similar to what you've done in the past?

Credit: Alessandro Vitti (DC/Vertigo)

Vitti: The artistic technique is the same. I used my lightbox to do the clean inks and work on the details, because my pencils work is really dirty.

Nrama: What's it been like working with Lee on Suiciders? Have you gotten to talk to him about it?

Credit: DC Comics

Vitti: I had the opportunity to talk with Lee before I started to work on the pages. It was a pleasure to listen to him tell the story and his idea about New Angeles. I mixed his visual idea with mine.

Nrama: With yours? What part of you is in the pages?

Vitti: I used this opportunity to tell people a bit about my hometown in these pages. You could find a typical California landscape and new zone when I draw the neighborhoods where I was born and where I lived in Southern Italy and saw this violence in the streets.

Nrama: Overall, how would you describe the visual tone of Suiciders and what people will see in your art?

Vitti: My visual tone is ailing, dirty, virtuous, nervous. The atmosphere is full of tension. I put all my emotions in these pages. I hope this is communicated on the page.